December 4, 2024 | Dan Low
With the cooler temperatures of this time of year, we naturally look for ways to provide more warmth. We see that in our fashion. Flannel shirts. Sweaters/sweatshirts. Puffer jackets. Beanies. We taste it in what we eat (hot pot, ramen, tofu soup) and drink (hot chocolate, hot tea, hot coffee, anything hot). We pay for it in our utility bill (with more natural gas demand). We donate blankets to help provide a measure of relief and comfort for those who are currently unhoused.
Along with the colder climate, the sun sets earlier. It gets dark super early. So if we play outdoor sports, we need lighting even if it’s before dinner. While we’re out on the road, we use our headlights sooner than later. Whatever we plan to do, we take into account the shorter days when we schedule our events.
The warmth and light that we value in this season pictures the vibrant and resilient hope that we bring into our world as loyal followers of Jesus. In his teaching on the end of the age, Jesus forecasts that “the love of many will grow cold” (Matthew 24:12). More than a reference to those without the gospel, it includes one-time professing disciples who eventually ditch their faith in Jesus.
It’s good to pray for revival in our nation and throughout the world (a warming up to God’s truth), but it’s also good, perhaps even more needed, to intercede for a deep, expansive, and sustained spiritual awakening in us as God’s holy people (to be light that shines fully and brightly until the end). That’s the gist of what the apostle Paul expects from the Romans: “Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer” (12:11-12).
Being delivered from the domain of darkness and transferred into the kingdom of our Father’s beloved Son (Colossians 1:13), we are uniquely qualified and positioned as light in the Lord (Ephesians 5:8). Walking as children of light in obedience to God, let’s trust the Spirit to create opportunities and provide real spiritual warmth as we point individuals to our Savior, who is Christ the Lord—the light of the world.
